Pedagogy is the science that focuses on education in general. A pedagogue must be knowledgeable about all those aspects related to training and the educational world, such as learning techniques, school organization, project development, professional guidance, support programs or the design of didactic material, among other functions.
The field of study of this discipline is very broad.
A company with a human resources department is using pedagogical principles, so it would be a business pedagogy. In relation to sport, there is sports pedagogy. When students have to overcome difficulties in the learning process, they need the support of a therapeutic pedagogue. Other branches are psychopedagogy, digital or social pedagogy.
The fundamental idea of social pedagogy
In most societies there are problems and imbalances that affect the most disadvantaged sectors in a very special way. Extreme poverty, school dropout, street violence or lack of job prospects are circumstances that have a direct relationship with the most humble groups. Social pedagogy is precisely the discipline that tries to correct all those circumstances that negatively affect the most vulnerable groups and, in a very special way, children.
Social pedagogy is based on a general principle: for there to be a change in society, it is necessary to incorporate educational strategies that facilitate social transformation. In other words, there is no social change without education.
From social pedagogy, a harsh criticism is made of conventional educational approaches
For professionals in this area, what is important is that education should be understood as a tool to transform society and not as a system to legitimize differences in social class. In this sense, the training model that is advocated is based on teaching content that promotes the integral development of the student.
To achieve this goal, the student must feel integrated into a community and the teaching resources and learning methods must be directly related to their social context.
In practice, the pedagogues of this current are in charge of preventing conflicts, correcting deficiencies in the socialization of individuals and favoring the reintegration of those who suffer from some form of social exclusion.
Photos: Fotolia – theromb / mast3r
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